Please do turn in the Gospel of Luke to Luke chapter 10, and this morning we'll be considering verses 25 to 28. I'll read to 29. This is kind of part A of a two-part section in which a lawyer challenges Jesus, and Jesus responds with the parable of the the compassionate Samaritan. And I think because it's such a misunderstood parable, that's why I've chosen to break it into two parts. Luke chapter 10, beginning in verse 25. Behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said to him, what is written in the law? How do you read it? And he answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and your neighbor as yourself. And he said to him, you have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. But he desiring to justify himself said to Jesus, and who is my neighbor? So ends the reading of God's Word. Let us pray and ask the Spirit to illuminate the text to our faith. Lord, we thank you for your word that we have just read this short passage. One of the things that strikes us is that a man like this lawyer can be so knowledgeable of the content of scripture and yet so ignorant of the truth and the life and the eternal life that this scripture points to. Lord, help us not to be blind and arrogant like this lawyer. Help us with eyes of faith to look and see your law and then look. to and see Christ. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. In our passage, Jesus is asked a very, very important question. What must I do to inherit eternal life? In other words, what must I do to attain heaven? How can I be sure that I'll reach heaven when I die? This is a question that everyone asks because as Ecclesiastes tells us, God has placed eternity into man's heart. We all know within the core of our being that there is something more to our existence than simply what this present evil dying age has to offer us. Everyone is grappling with the question of eternal life and people grapple with it in different ways. Well, you see some people respond to the question of eternal life by trying to create their own works, righteousness, religion. Others respond to the question simply by trying to deny the question and suffocate the voice that calls out screaming of eternal life. People do that through entertainment or even medication. But this is a question that we all must ask. Children, have you ever found yourself lying in your bed at night asking that question, will I go to heaven when I die? How can I be sure that that will happen? This is a question that we must all ask and we do all ask. This is what the man's question in our passage gets at. What may be so surprising to us is how Jesus answers this question. The question is, what must I do? Jesus' response is, do? Well, you must do all of the law. If you approach eternal life on the basis of your own works, of the things that you can do and offer God, well, what you must offer him is absolute perfection according to his eternal law. Now, the context preceding this question is important. We've just come from a scene where Jesus has called his disciples to rejoice. Rejoice, my disciples. Not simply that you have power over demons, but that your name is written in heaven. And then Jesus himself rejoiced. He thanked God for revealing the gospel, not to the wise and the righteous, the self-righteous in their own eyes. but to those who are his disciples. Jesus made it clear that God doesn't save the wise and the good. No, he graciously saves the ungodly. And so what we see then when we see this contrast of these two scenes is that there are really two ways to ensure that your name will be written in heaven. Either you perfectly obey all of the law all of the time for your entire life, which no one but only one man has ever done, or you trust in the obedience and the works of that one man who is the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what Jesus was trying to lead this man to see through his dialogue about the law. He wants this man to realize that the righteousness God requires for heaven cannot come by our own works. It can only come through faith in Christ. And this same law and gospel comes to us today so that we might see the righteousness of God's standards, so that we might see our own failing and the misery of our sin and the just condemnation that we fall under, and then that we might throw ourselves upon the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. Let's consider then how Jesus teaches this man and us about the law and what it reveals. The law's purpose is to reveal God's standard for eternal life. However, the law prosecutes those who have failed to live according to that standard. And finally, the law points to the righteousness of another. So we'll consider then the purpose of the law, the prosecution of the law, and the pointing of the law. So first there's the purpose of the law. The law's purpose is to reveal God's holy standard for eternal life. Now the context, as I said, surrounding the lawyer's question is that Jesus has been having this very intimate and special time of teaching with his disciples. And it's been a time just marked by absolute joy. His disciples came back from their mission rejoicing. Jesus himself has been rejoicing and joyfully praying to the Father. Jesus has been heightening their own joy. However, the joy of the moment is kind of sucked away and cut away in verse 25 with this abrupt interruption by this lawyer. Luke presents the scene and the transition in such an abrupt way so that the lawyer is like interjecting himself into this private time with Jesus and his disciples. Now, this lawyer isn't a lawyer in the way that we typically think of the word. He isn't a criminal lawyer or a civil lawyer. No, he's more of a Bible lawyer. This is a man who is an expert in the Torah. This is a man who has dedicated his life to learning the scriptures, and he knows a lot of it. But before he even opens his mouth, Luke tells us something about his motive. His motive is not good. Notice what Luke tells us in verse 25. And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test. Probably most of us know what this is like. Sometimes someone comes to you and they ask you a question, and you can tell that they're not asking you for clarification or for understanding. No, they're actually asking to kind of trip you and trap you. to test you in such a way that you'll fail that test. And that's what this man is doing here. What's interesting is that this is the exact same language, this language of testing, that's used to describe what Satan does in the wilderness to Jesus. And Jesus, quoting Deuteronomy 6, 16, which we read earlier, he tells Satan, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. So this is not a friendly question, this is not faith-seeking understanding, this is not a disciple saying to Jesus, Lord, I'm struggling here, help me understand. No, this is a man who is trying to trap and test and trip Jesus, something he won't achieve. You can't help but notice the irony. Here is this man who is seeking to justify himself according to the law, and already, before he even opens his mouth, he's broken the law by putting God the Son to the test. So the lawyer asks, teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? It's very important that before we consider Jesus' response to the question, that we understand the question itself, because the question always shapes the answer. Notice how he asks, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He wants to know what must be done, what are the works he must do for life. Well, equally important is that we recognize what he's not asking. He's not asking, what must I do to be saved from my sin? Recall the Philippian jailer from Acts 16 and how he asks, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Well, the answer is simple. They say, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved. But this question is altogether different. He's not asking to be saved from anything. He's not approaching Jesus as a man whose heart has been broken by the law, who sees his own sin and hopeless estate and knows that if there is any hope, it can only be found in Christ. No, this is a man who is wise in his own eyes. This is the kind of man Jesus has just instructed his disciples about. Well, Jesus responds to his question with a question. He asks him, what is written in the law? How do you read it? So the question is, what do I do for eternal life? Jesus responds with a question that's designed to lead the man to the law, because the law holds the answer for the lawyer's question. The law which God has given to us reveals the standard of righteousness which he demands from his creatures. That's the law's purpose. The law's purpose is to reveal God's righteousness and the righteous standard required for eternal life. And it's been that way ever since the beginning. In the very beginning, God created Adam and Eve and he placed them in the garden. And there he established with them a covenant, an agreement. We call this the covenant of works. And under this covenant, God gave Adam work to do. There were commands, there were prohibitions. God had promised Adam eternal life upon his obedience for him and all of his offspring. So if Adam obeyed perfectly, he would live. Do this, Adam, and you will live, God told him. You will have eternal life through your obedience. But as our confession notes in chapter 19 of the law of God, this obedience had to be personal, entire, exact, and perpetual. It had to be personal, meaning it had to be his own. It had to be exact. In other words, there was no room for error or slip-ups. It had to be entire. There were no loopholes or exceptions or excuses. It had to be perpetual, meaning Adam didn't get to have a sick day or a vacation day from God's law. Well, as we know, Adam failed. He sinned and he broke that covenant with God. He did not do, and therefore he did not inherit eternal life. And although the way to the tree of life was barred by angels with fiery swords, beyond Adam, God continued to reveal that the standard to be within his presence was perfect righteousness. The Old Testament served this purpose. in all of its commands and threats of punishment for disobedience and the promises of rewards for obedience. It continued to set before the eyes and the minds of the people this works principle that if you do the law perfectly, you will live. And that only perfect obedience can inherit heaven. Only the righteous can inherit eternal life. That is the standard that God's law reveals. And it's important for us to recognize that this is a good thing. The law is not. or enemy in the sense that the law is wrong or bad in any kind of way. No, the law is good and it's righteous because the law is a reflection of God's own righteous character. The problem in Genesis chapter three was not God's command not to eat of the tree. It wasn't any of God's commands or his law. It wasn't with God at all. It was with Adam and Eve who desired to grasp at something that was not theirs to take. Their desire was to throw off the law. even when God's law condemns us. The problem is never with the law. The problem is always with us and with our sin. And so as we think about the law, we need to start from that place of recognizing that the law is good and it has a good purpose, which is to reveal God's character and the standard he expects of his creatures. The law is not only good because it's from God, it comes from him, But it's also good because it's what's best for us. Children, one of the questions that you learn in your children's catechism is question number 21. In what condition or state did God make Adam and Eve? Maybe you're whispering that to your mom or your dad even now. But you know the answer, don't you? He made them holy and happy. Do you notice that holiness and happiness are not enemies? There's no dividing wall between them. They go together perfectly. God's laws are holy and they are for our happiness. God's laws are not the arbitrary commands of a kind of out-of-touch authoritarian figure that really have no basis on our lives. We're not slaves to God's law. God's law is for our good. for our happiness and for His glory. Imagine, imagine the relationship of Adam and Eve as husband and wife under God's law, pre-fall. A relationship where Adam, as the husband, never uttered a harsh word to his wife, never raised his fist, never made an excuse for not mowing the lawn or whatever the case. Imagine a relationship where Eve never disrespected her husband. Never once did she fold her arms and roll her eyes. No, there was perfect unity. and harmony and love in the full and the right sense of that word. And that's because they were obeying God's law. Well, they obeyed the law. They were holy and they were happy. And so this is the first thing we need to confess and what Jesus teaches us about the law. It is good and it's good for us because it's a reflection of his own righteousness and the righteousness that is required to enter heaven. Well, that's the purpose of the law. The second thing we'll consider is the prosecution of the law. The law serves as an instrument to prosecute lawbreakers. So in response to the lawyer's question as to what he must do for eternal life, Jesus points him to the law by asking, what is written in the law? How do you read it? And no doubt the lawyer, who is a man very well trained in the scriptures, and he's memorized massive portions of scripture, could have begun to spout off all sorts of passages. But instead, very skillfully and very elegantly, he summarizes the whole of the law with this short statement in verse 27. And he answered, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself. That was a good answer, wasn't it? The lawyer summarizes the whole of the law with the command to love God and neighbor. Essentially, he combines a passage from Deuteronomy 6 and Leviticus 19. The whole of the law boils down to these two things, loving God and loving our neighbor. And notice how Jesus affirms his answer. He doesn't say, no, no, no, you've got it wrong. He says the opposite. He says, you have answered correctly. Do this and you will live. Jesus says, you are absolutely right. Gold star, 100%. You get an A plus. You have answered correctly. Jesus even quotes the law from the Mosaic Covenant back to the lawyer, do this and live. This is a shorthand reference to Leviticus 18 verse five, where Israel is told to obey and upon the condition of their obedience, they will be blessed and receive life. So the question is, what must I do for eternal life? The answer affirmed by Jesus is that you must do the law. You must love God and love your neighbor and you will have eternal life. But what is this law that Jesus says we must do for eternal life? Let's drill down on this for a moment. Well, first, we're told you shall love the Lord your God. So we're to love the Lord. And we typically think of love as maybe an emotional thing purely, or the kind of butterflies we get in our feelings maybe when we think of someone we care about with affection. But in the Old Testament, love is very much an action word. And so to love the Lord means to live and to act for God. To love God is to live and to do for the honor and glory of his name. This love must be undivided. You are to love with all your heart. In the Old Testament, the heart is the seed of one's emotions and will. and mind, and so to love God with all your heart is to love him exclusively and in a way that is undivided. To love him with all your strength means loving him with all your ability and your resources. Loving him with all your mind means that each and every thought must be lovingly disposed to the Lord. And the law is not only concerned with our relationship to God, but also with relationship to our neighbor. We are to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are to treat them in ways that we would want to be treated. And when we look at the totality of all of this, what is this a picture of? It's a picture. of perfection. The law calls for complete obedience rendered with all of one's heart, with all of one's soul, with all of one's mind and strength. There is no partial obedience. There is no half measure. No, Jesus says if you want to know what kind of obedience merits eternal life in heaven, it's this. Do this and you will live. What's Jesus doing here? By pointing to the absolute, unwavering standard of God's law, Jesus isn't saying to the lawyer, you're so close, just tweak or fine-tune this area of your life and then you'll attain perfect obedience, then you'll get into heaven by your works. No, that's not Jesus' point at all. Jesus' point is to get this man who wants to be justified under the law to look at the law and to consider it and to see the standard of perfection that the law requires and therefore to see how he has utterly failed to meet that standard, how he hasn't even come close. As Martin Luther comments, Jesus answers with just two little words, do it, do it, but it is impossible. The mistake that the lawyer makes is to think that he, as a fallen sinner, can attain this standard of perfect righteousness in order to attain heaven. And many people make the same mistake today, don't they? It's not uncommon to hear people say something to the effect that, well, if there is a heaven or hell, I'm sure that I've done enough good things to get into heaven when I die. Or conversely, they'll say, I know, I'm no angel, but I haven't done what those people have done. I'm not that bad. Surely I've done nothing bad enough to not get into heaven. That isn't how the law functions. The law doesn't care that you were so-so in this area and maybe bad in this area or that you were kind of okay in this area and not so great in this area. It doesn't weigh things on a balance. The law doesn't grade on a curve. Well, I'm not as bad as those other people, so on the curve, I'm kind of maybe up here. No, the law doesn't care about that. The law's standard is perfection. There is no passing grade. You either get 100% or you fail. The law is held out to us without mercy. And again, the problem isn't with God's law. The problem is with us, because we have broken the law. We have sinned. We have not obeyed. We have not loved the Lord with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. We have not loved our neighbor as ourselves. We have acted selfishly and thus sinned against God and our neighbor. And therefore, as sinners, The law serves to condemn us and prosecute us for our failure to keep the law. You see, the flip side of do this and live is if you don't do this, you will die. If you read do this and live and think, okay, let's do it, you've missed Jesus' point entirely. The point is that you have not done this, and so you will die. Those were the exact words God said to Adam. On the day that you eat of this fruit, on the day that you disobey, you shall surely die. The law without mercy sets before us the absolute perfect standard by which we are to be judged for eternal life. And because we have not obeyed, we stand condemned and deserving of judgment. This is how the law prosecutes us. As Paul writes in Romans chapter three, verses 19 and 20, now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and that the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law, no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. Paul says that the law prosecutes us and therefore it closes our mouths, it leaves us speechless. There is no yeah but, there is no word of excuse. We are silenced, we have no defense. And that's how this lawyer should have responded. He should have closed his mouth. But instead, what we find him doing is going on and defending himself and trying to justify himself. He should have stopped boasting in his own law-keeping, which was a joke anyway, how he should have responded. to Jesus was by falling on his face and crying out, Lord, I am a sinful man. I have not kept your law, not a bit. I stand condemned. What must I do to be saved from my sin and the judgment that I deserved? And yet what we find is that this is exactly what the lawyer doesn't do. He doesn't fall down before Jesus. Instead he goes on to contend against our Lord and confident in his own works, boast, thinking he can justify himself. And thus he remains condemned. The lawyer has just proved Jesus' words, that God conceals the truth from those who are wise in their own eyes. We've seen the purpose of the law, which is to reveal God's righteous standard. We've seen the prosecution of the law, how the law prosecutes lawbreakers, leaving them speechless. Finally, we'll consider the pointing of the law, how the law points us to the righteousness of Christ. The lawyer in his pride and arrogance thinks that he can obtain heaven by his doing, by his works according to the law. And in verse 29, Luke gives us even more of his motive. He was desiring to justify himself. This man is so confident in himself that he thinks that through his works, he can earn his place in heaven. This is where the lawyer's great knowledge of scripture melts away and becomes pure folly. Because the whole of the law throughout scripture serves not only to show God's standard and how we fail to meet that standard, it's designed to then call us to cry out for the one who is the perfect law keeper. It's designed to point. to a righteousness that is received not through the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. When the Mosaic law promised the Israelites life upon obedience, and when they failed time and again, it was designed to show them that they needed a perfect law keeper. The command, do this and live, was to cause them to cry out for the second Adam, the one who would obey where the first Adam failed. It was to cause them to cry out for the true Israel, who would be God's son, who would do and obey, and thus receive the promised land of life. In fact, after listing all of the blessings and curses in Deuteronomy 30, Moses tells Israel that they will fail to obey, but after their failure, God would do for them something that they cannot do for themselves. Moses says, then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. But how can God do this for us? If the law teaches us that entrance into heaven can only be attained through perfect law-keeping, and we are lawbreakers, How can we enter heaven? How can God promise mercy to Israel when the law without mercy says, do this and live? The answer is that life comes not through doing. It comes not through our own works, but through the works and the righteousness of another. Christ came as the second Adam and as the true Israel, as the faithful son of God. And he was obedient to all of the law, to the point of death, even death on a cross. You see, Christ is the one who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He lived a perfectly righteous life, always loving the Father with his whole heart, soul, strength, and mind, always loving his neighbor as himself, always treating others with respect. He satisfied the law for sinners so that we can be justified, that is, made righteous. How do we receive the benefits of Christ's work? How are we who are unrighteous in our sin made righteous? Well, Jesus' status as the righteous law keeper is transferred to us by faith. As Paul writes in Romans chapter three, verses 23 to 24, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by his grace as a gift through redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. Dear friend, you cannot, by your best efforts, Make yourself right with God. There is nothing that you can do to work off your debt to the law. No, there is nothing you can do to change your standing as one who is condemned by your own works. For you, dear friend, heaven is closed off. But God, in his rich mercy, sent his son so that all who would believe in him will be saved. This is the only way to receive the righteousness that Christ requires for heaven. And it comes not through doing, but through faith, through trusting and through resting in the works that Christ has done on your behalf. As Paul writes in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace you have been saved, through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. And beloved, this is the good news of the gospel, that what God rightly demands in the law He freely gives to you through faith in Jesus Christ. The law comes and it tells you what you must do for eternal life. The gospel comes and tells you what Christ has done for you to secure eternal life for you. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift is life. is eternal life. The law in condemnation stops every mouth, but the law, as it's completed by Christ for our salvation, once again opens our mouths so that we praise God and we can rejoice that our names are written in heaven. What are you trusting in Christ alone? Have you laid aside your own attempts at working your way to secure the Father's good pleasure? Have you confessed your sins? Do you have the assurance that your name is written in heaven by Christ himself? The law shuts the mouth of sinners in condemnation, but through faith the gospel opens our mouths to proclaim and to sing. Thy works, not mine, O Christ, speak gladness to this heart. They tell me all is done. They bid my fear depart. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you that the law comes and speaks to us a word of condemnation, but the blood of Christ speaks a louder word. We thank you that for all who trust in Christ, we have the assurance of the forgiveness of our sins, and not only that, but the assurance that we are righteous in your sight, not for works done by ourselves, but works done wholly and solely by Christ. And thus we, by faith, can have the assurance that we shall inherit eternal life. We thank you, we pray in Jesus' name, amen.